Rafa Cabrera Bello arrives at the Genesis Championship under pressure for the second year in a row - but it is a far better pressure in 2025 than 12 months ago.
Last year the Spaniard arrived at this event 121st on the Race to Dubai Rankings and battling to keep his category ten membership on the DP World Tour.
A missed cut in South Korea meant he had to use a career money exemption to play in 2025 but he has made the most of the opportunity and arrives at Woo Jeong Hills Country Club in no danger of losing his playing privileges this time around.
In fact, he is currrently 70th on the Rankings, with the top 70 after this week extending their seasons by heading to the DP World Tour Play-Offs, which start next month at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.
Should he make it to Yas Links, he may well be confident of then cracking the top 50 and heading to the season-ending DP World Tour Championship, considering he has a runner-up finish, three other top fives, two other top tens and just three finishes outside the top 25 in 15 appearances in Abu Dhabi.
But the four-time DP World Tour winner is refusing to get ahead of himself and was philosophical as, one way or another, he reaches the end of a season which has seen him improve throughout the year.
"I’m 70th on the Race to Dubai, so I’m on the bubble to see if I get to the Play-Offs and Abu Dhabi," he said.
"Being the last event of the regular season, normally in golf we say there’s a next week, but there might not be. So there’s a little bit of extra pressure, but I don’t really think about that.
"I just want to try and play my game. I’ve played better in the second half of the year, so hopefully I can have a good first two days, make the cut, that should take care of the job for me. If not, if I need a better weekend, I’ll fight for it."
He added: "It's easier said than done (staying patient) but you have to trust the process you’re in, whether it’s swing changes or attitude changes, or physical changes. Just trust the process and detach yourself from the results. It’s much easier said than done because we are judged by everyone and ourselves on the results we produce.
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"You want to see the results and see them quicker than they may come. But what works for me is having belief in the process and letting God decide when the good things are going to happen."
Cabrera Bello's best result of the season came at the Amgen Irish Open, where an impressive weekend display saw him finish just two shots out of the play-off won by home hero Rory McIlroy.
The 41-year-old - a Rolex Series winner and Ryder Cup player - is accustomed to playing under pressure and he took great confidence from performing in front of huge crowds in one of the DP World Tour's biggest events.
"I had a great week in Ireland," he said. "It was the first week of the year I felt I put four good rounds in a row. I’ve had many good rounds this season, but struggled to have a full tournament week with four good rounds.
"Ireland was the point that changed that for me. That gave me a lot of confidence. I also felt comfortable being in contention after quite some time without fighting for a title. It was a week with a lot of positives for me."
